Pallets are widely used for packaging and stacking of various kinds of goods, typically individual items or packages that may be stacked in a stable manner or fixated relative to the pallet by winding with e.g. steel or plastics bands. Pallets are advantageous for transportation since they have modular dimensions and are thus configured for optimal utilisation of the space in trucks, containers or cargo wagons. Pallets are often involved throughout the entire distribution chain, all the way from manufacturer to consumer.
Various pallet dimensions and types have been developed, and in particular for use in connection with the production of Christmas trees and decorative greenery, a pallet system has been developed that consists of a so-called transport pallet on which Christmas trees and decorative greenery are transported to the retailer, and a so-called forest pallet on which the less solid transport pallet is positioned during its transport and packaging on the growth site in the forest. This system is described in further detail in DK patent No. 169 147, and in addition to said pallets it also describes a method of packaging Christmas trees and decorative greenery in a compressed manner.
In order to minimise packaging waste, it is a current desire that pallets are to be returned to the manufacturer following discharge of their loads at the retailer's. However, the above-described transportation pallet is not very suitable for reuse since, although removable, its lateral elements cannot be packed away during the transport back to the manufacturer and therefore the empty pallet and its lateral elements take up comparatively much space during this return transport.
However, the transport pallet used in practice is forwarded to the retailer without use of lateral supports, the pallet and the Christmas trees or the decorative greenery merely being wound with a plastics or steel band. However, this presents the drawback at the retailer's that all Christmas trees or all the decorative greenery is discharged from the pallet at the same time when the windings are cut. However this is contrary to the retailer's wish that discharge from the pallet may be effected continuously.